Linux isn't a threat to Windows on the desktop and is losing steam on the server as customers separate the operating system from the development model, according to Microsoft's chief platform strategist. Bill Hilf, general manager of competitive strategy at Microsoft, said pundits have predicted for years that Linux will gain momentum on the desktop, but that won't happen because of the complexity involved in delivering a tightly integrated and tested desktop product.

"Choose whatever works best for you. If it's Linux, so be it. If it's Windows, fine. Or Mac, Solaris, BSD... everyone has his own preferences and that's fine."

That's exactly what it boils down to, and that's why I switched. Choice. If Windows had a 100% market share, there would be no choice. The world would be Windows, and if it sucked, too bad. But Windows don't have 100% market share, and that's a good thing. Choice is a good thing. Use cars as an example. If we only had Ford Motor Company building cars, and all other car companies went out of business, what incentive would Ford have to give us a better product? There wouldn't by any. So we would have the same model year in and year out. No changes, and very few advances. Choice forces innovation, and if you don't think Linux makes Microsoft innovate, you need to think again. For a while in the 90's, it was only Mac competing with Windows. Now, we have Linus, Mac, BSD, and several other unixes vying for workspace.

The home user is going to use what they see at work. I think somebody else said that in a previous reply. The fact is, more people are going to see it at work because Microsoft is screwing the pooch at the moment. They have missed several deadlines, giving the other software companies a chance to play catch up. And contrary to popular opinion, there is innovation going on in the Linux community as well. Its just you see it in Windows first because Linux don't have a big fanfare rollout of the technologies being pushed.